Woodcraft in Nepal today is one of Nepal's best industries and is made up mostly of family businesses that employ a small number of laborers to help in the production of their work. These Silpakar and Kaisthakar families enjoy a strong local and foreign market for their products. Most of the woodcraft industry today is focussed on providing local people and tourists with collectible items such as picture frames and miniature statuettes. This is a far cry from their works of old found at temple sites as reminders of their great works in times past. Woodcraft has had to endure the same fate as most other Nepalese arts under the effects of commercialization. Through this process it has lost a great deal of reserved value for cases such as in religion and architecture. Nonetheless, restoration projects of heritage sites in the traditional style in historic cities such as Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, and Kathmandu have created a boom in the production of woodcarvings and many new generations of carvers are finding interests in this work.

Bungamati, Lalitpur, is one of Nepal's centers for woodwork and more than 350 family groups can be found there involved in the craft. Along with Bhaktapur, these centers produce high quality hand crafted work. However, only a few artists produce large pieces of arts as the market for them is relatively small, they take a long time to complete and require greater skill. It is the wood carvers' knowledge of the malleability of woods and their tones and fragrances that allows them to create the best works. However, the vast majority of artisans lack the capability to season their woods, as they are only small-scale entrepreneurs using basic tools. As a result, their work is tricky to ship abroad as they can be damaged easily. There is progress being made by The Handicraft Association of Nepal towards the establishment of a seasoning plant for these entrepreneurs so that the export quality of their goods will go up. The local market is their safest bet to providing detailed and intact work to their customers. Wood carved windows and doors also accommodate for the popular local fashion in Nepalese homes. However, the exportation of woodcraft is down fourteen-percent say HAN statistics. Nonetheless, after papers, garments and metalwork, woodcraft remains comfortably seated as the country's sixth highest exported product. According to HAN statistics, $US 444,212 in woodcrafts were exported between the middle of July 2001 and the middle of May 2002.

Numerous government-training programs have been created to help encourage this industry's success. Trainees undergo a six-month course for skill development with which facilitates their finding jobs and in to even become entrepreneurs themselves. There has appeared amongst municipalities the need for skilled woodworkers to provide good craftsmanship to be used in the restoration of areas in and around heritage sites. Traditional wooden carved doors, windows and beams are needed for to the restoration of the outsides of temples, monasteries and houses.

Wood sources are plentiful in Nepal and provide for near free reign on the woods that craftsmen can use and obtain. The exception to this availability is daar, which is government protected by environmental laws. Artisans prize this wood for the easy application of detail that it allows. It is now required that a permit be obtained in order to log these trees; however, illegal logging does continue adding further stress to the situation.